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| Corruption a robbery of human rights: Aitzaz |
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Saadia Khalid
Islamabad
Corrupt people are in every field of life, even among lawyers. Such people are a threat to the overall reputation of an institution and they should be tackled on immediate basis, said eminent lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Human Rights’ organised by the Islamabad Police, he said: “Had there been no black sheep in every department, we would have been a developed like Europe. It is our duty to keep an eye on these corrupt people. A few lawyers have become more active than desired and it is important to point them out and isolate them,” he said.
He termed corruption “robbery of human rights” as due to it an ineligible man is given a chance illegally while depriving eligible persons of their due rights. “It is the quotient of power, which is a major factor behind corruption in different organisations,” he said.
He, however, lauded the efforts of police and said that they were performing their duties in the line of fire and should be paid rich tribute for their bravery and hard work. “In today’s world where everybody is depressed due to unemployment, inflation and lawlessness, it is the duty of men in uniform to realise their duty in facilitating people while forgetting their own problems and worries,” he said.
He said that according to social sciences, torture in any case was counterproductive and condition to violence. “The technology has become so updated where everybody is having mobile phones with cameras and could record anything at any place,” he warned.
Eminent lawyer Athar Minallah, on the occasion, quoted an example of Malik Saad Shaheed who brought a drastic change in the police department while performing duty in Malakand Division during nineties. “If a single police officer could change the overall image of police by enforcing law in a region like Malakand then why every single personnel in police can’t do that,” he said.
He said that if the priority of the state would be enforcement of law then the situation would change altogether. “It is the system which uses police for their vested interests. Police is used for protocol purposes instead of providing protection and security to citizens,” he said.
The culture of torture has penetrated into police stations through political interference and only the true leadership could help end this culture.
A retired IG and former interior secretary, Ilyas Mohsin, said that police personnel could perform their duties honestly only if they ignore all temptations coming in their way.
Columnist Humayun Gohar said that the implementation of human rights in letter and sprit was not possible until those who were involved in human right violations and sitting in the parliament were held accountable. “There are several members of the assembly who themselves are involved in brutal incidents of violence against women,” he said.
The former chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) said that the majority of officials were involved in corruption at some level. “If the head of any department would be honest then the whole department would be honest. Unfortunately, our country never got an honest leader,” he said.
He stressed on the need for the merit based inductions in various departments and said that it was the only way to root out corruption and injustice from the system.
IGP (Islamabad) Syed Kaleem Imam said that they were continuously striving to improve the police department and have taken several measures over last few years for the welfare of personnel. As many as 41 police personnel of Islamabad Police had sacrificed their lives and more than 90 terrorist had been arrested, he said.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
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